How do you decide

[NewGig]

That you have enough and not too much of an item? Or decide there’s too much?

My standards have shifted over the years, have yours?

Do you have a rule of thumb?

TIA!

[Teacher Terry]

I have 2 sets of sheets for every bed. A months worth of dish towels/cloths. 3 weeks of clothes. When I was raising the kids I did laundry every week because there were 5 of us. Not anymore.

[Chicken lady]

I’m a hoarder. I have no standards.

That’s partly a joke, but also true. i generally have to find my standards externally. A recent helpful one has been “the container concept” from nony the slob. - basically that if your storage for that item is full, you can’t have any more. The definition of full is a bit flexible.

if a thing is important and used a lot, it’s ok to have a spare. With food you have to think about how fast you eat it and expiration dates.

[razz]

One set of dished, pots and rotate through my groceries maintaining about a month's supply if I bought nothing else, one set of summer sheets and one of winter which get washed every week, about 10 days of clothes with some extra alternatives for winter and summer wear. I think, for me, it comes down to selecting the space for certain items and not exceeding that space.

[Yppej]

If it breaks or wears out and I don't get around to replacing it for a while do I manage fine?

[Gardnr]

I don't really have a rule of thumb. I hate to shop so that controls accumulation greatly. If something breaks or wears out, and I use it a lot, I replace it.

Now I'm thinking more about the question. I guess I do have rules:
1. When we bought this house I said to hubby "my car will always be in the garage. It's up to you what happens to the rest of the space." His has also always been in the garage. We have a small 2 car so not much extra space.
2. Everything in our home has it's place. It is in place when we're done using it or at bedtime via quick pick-up. I don't like stuff laying around. No piles, no stacks, no detritus strewn about.

We've been here since 1991 and this is it. We live in our home. It's not a packed storage container--think George Carlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

[iris lilies]

One rule we instituted in very recent years is this: no more pulling in stuff from the alley no matter how attractive it is. Once in a while I make an exception to that rule if this item is interesting and in good shape and it is near the time of our Park Conservancy’s sale. Then we will bring it in and store it for a few weeks until we can donate it to the sale.